Built 1977 Employees 1,980 | Industry Automotive | |
Location Bridgend, Wales, United Kingdom Products CVH engine (1980-2000)
Zetec-E (Zeta) engine (1992-2004)
EcoBoost engine (2009-present) Area 1,525,270 square feet (141,702 m) | ||
The Ford Bridgend Engine Plant is a manufacturing facility of Ford of Europe, located in Bridgend, Wales.
Contents
Construction
After signing an investment deal with the Welsh Development Agency, construction was started on the greenfield site in 1977. The 1,525,270 square feet (141,702 m2) plant began production in 1980, and specialises in producing petrol engines. Its first product was the CVH engine used in the then new third generation European Escort of that year.
Production
The plant currently produces the following Ford products:
Jaguar engine plant
Jaguar Land Rover have a "plant-within-a-plant" at Bridgend, which saved considerable investment costs by JLR. Staffed by workers dedicated to Jaguar production of the AJ-V8 engine, it includes a linked flow-line of computer numerically controlled machines with automated loading and assembly. Component supply is on a "just-in-time" basis. JLR will move the production of its engines to its new Wolverhampton plant by 2018.
Future
The plant currently produces 750,000 engines per annum. But, with Volvo cars badged production moving out in March 2015, and Jaguar-Land Rover products moving to their own Wolverhampton plant by 2018, production at the plant is projected by Ford of Europe to fall to around 250,000.
In March 2015, Ford of Europe made the recommendation to Ford HQ in Detroit to build the new "Dragon" designed petrol engines at Bridgend, after a review of options across plants in: Valencia, Spain; Cologne, Germany; and Craiova, Romania. The required investment is being backed with an additional £15M investment grant by the Welsh Government. BBC Radio news on 2 March 2017 reported that the Bridgend operation was under threat as a result of Brexit.
Former products
The plant formerly produced the following products: